(ABP) — Ecclesia Semper Reformanda, so the saying goes, “the church is always reforming.” Those words came to mind last week when I heard sociologist-prophet-iconoclast Tony Campolo preach at the New Baptist Covenant II meeting, that multiracial effort at affecting…
HERITAGE: Big day at two churches
It was a crisp, cool, cloudless day on Oct. 2 for the 125th anniversary celebration at Big Island Baptist Church in Bedford County, Va. The distinctive temple-like church building had been spruced up for the big day. The menfolks had…
News Analysis: Churches not typically first reporters of sexual abuse
DENVER (ABP) – Southern Baptist churches are rarely the first party to report allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy to legal authorities, according to an analysis of news stories aggregated at a website maintained by an advocate for victims….
Baptist church takes stand for gay marriage
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) – Members of a North Carolina Baptist church voted unanimously Nov. 20 to stop performing civil marriages until it becomes legal for same-sex couples to wed. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., says current state law…
Baptist church takes stand for gay marriage
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — Members of a North Carolina Baptist church voted unanimously Nov. 20 to stop performing civil marriages until it becomes legal for same-sex couples to wed. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., says current state law…
OPINION: Tebow apologetics
Football and politics have something in common these days beside combat. Each wrestles with the role religion plays in its game. Tim Tebow is a curious case on the gridiron. A passionate evangelical Christian and one of the most heralded…
Low attendance disappoints New Baptist Covenant planners
ATLANTA (ABP) – Planners of the Nov. 17-19 New Baptist Covenant gatherings were disappointed with attendance but pleased with the diversity and quality of presentations, one of the organizers said Nov. 21. “We had hoped for a larger attendance,” said…
SBC leader says churches not immune from ‘anti-child culture’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) – Richard Land, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman on moral concerns, says the Penn State sexual abuse scandal is symptomatic of a larger “anti-child culture” in the United States, and that churches are not immune. During…
Panel: Churches need to take lead in race relations
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ABP) — Churches too often have trailed society at large in terms of embracing racial and ethnic diversity, a multiethnic panel told a regional New Baptist Covenant II gathering in San Antonio. “I believe what we see on…
Churches need to take the lead in race relations, panelists insist
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Too often, churches have trailed society at large in terms of embracing racial and ethnic diversity, a multiethnic panel told a regional New Baptist Covenant II gathering in San Antonio. “I believe what we see on…
In subtle shift, Bob Jones University questions ‘fundamentalist’ label
GREENVILLE, S.C. (RNS) — When Bob Jones III recently questioned whether President Obama is a Christian, it was a reminder not only that the fundamentalist leader is controversial but also how little the political world has heard from the man…
Low attendance disappoints New Baptist Covenant II planners
ATLANTA (ABP) — Planners of the Nov. 17-19 New Baptist Covenant gatherings were disappointed with attendance but pleased with the diversity and quality of presentations, one of the organizers said Nov. 21. “We had hoped for a larger attendance,” said…